Human After All

About

When Daft Punk began a six–week recording session in the fall of 2004, the state of electronic music was in flux. Gone was the North American electronica boom, which the duo had conveniently bookended with its beloved 1997 debut <i>Homework</i> and 2001’s multi-platinum <i>Discovery</i>. In its place was a post-9/11 repurposing of post-punk cool and downtown posturing that had little in common with the exuberant house and sleek disco of Daft Punk’s previous output—or so it seemed. Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo had always gone to great lengths to shine a light on their musical inspiration, whether it was name-checking their favorite DJs and producers on <i>Homework</i>’s “Teachers” or partnering with the likes of Romanthony and Todd Edwards on <i>Discovery</i>. But the duo’s third album, 2005’s <i>Human After All</i>, was full of harsher sounds and skeletal structure, with songs that felt like lesser copies of the raw dance-punk approach being pioneered by indie dance acts like Peache, MSTRKRFT, and Justice vs Simian. Formerly supportive critics were quick to call out this misstep, pointing out <i>Human After All</i> tracks like “Technologic”—which many saw as a rewarmed sloganeering version of the group’s smash hit “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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